Giant carp stirs up big concerns

Illinois wildlife officials will scour the McKinley Park lagoon to determine if more Asian bighead carp lurk where a hulking specimen of the invasive species was caught last week.

State and federal agencies have spent millions of dollars attempting to keep the destructive fish out of the Great Lakes--but were caught off guard when a local angler reeled in a 38-pound carp last Thursday in the pond at Pershing Road and Damen Avenue.

FOR THE RECORD - This story contains corrected material, published in the regular editions June 12, 2003.

Samuel Pena said he instantly realized his catch was not your typical bass. After taking the fish home, Pena brought it to Henry's Sports and Bait Shop, 3130 S. Canal St., where he purchases nightcrawlers as bait. The shop's owners--who still have the fish in a freezer and are showing it to an increasing parade of visitors--called the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Officials identified the catch as an Asian bighead carp on Friday morning.

John Rogner (the name as published has been corrected in this text), field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Barrington, said state agencies concerned about the carp entering Lake Michigan and decimating the ecosystem will conduct their own investigation.

The Asian bighead carp are viewed as a menace because they prey on organisms at the bottom of the food chain, wreaking havoc on the diets of other predators. The species, whose taste is likened to tuna, was imported by catfish farmers in Arkansas and moved into the Mississippi River during flooding in the 1990s.